Falling into the Abyss
by MTVCCVC
Summary: Diana has been captured and Bruce is trying to find her and bring her back to safety. The whole adventure however keeps draging him into his own darkness... WARNING: Rated M for a reason! chapter 3 is fairly brutal.
1. A Trap Sprung

A/N: This one has been in the making for quite a while now and is one i'm sort of proud of. I would like to hear your opinions and if you spot anything that's off or could be improved, please tell me. Other than that, hope you enjoy reading this. Oh, and notice the warning

**WARNING: **This story has been rated M. The reason is the relative fair brutality of chapter 3! You have been warned!

* * *

The night is silent. Not exactly something he's used to. Nights like this always end badly. Still, at least this way he'll be able to notice things that are amiss a lot easier. Like for instance the sound of the footstep of someone in high heels just behind him. He knows that someone very well.

"This is my city, Princess. What are you doing here?" his voice the menacing Bat.

"This is my city now too. Or haven't you heard? I've been married to Bruce Wayne for quite a while now" she accepts the teasing, her smile gracing the silent night.

"Is that so?" he asks with a grin, turning to face her.

Her face assumes a teasing expression as she moves towards him and stops mere millimeters from him.

"It is so. Or do you require convincing?" she asks with a sly grin.

"What did you have in mind, Mrs. Wayne?" he reflected the slyness back with his own grin.

That was all the information she needed. It meant he was sure there was no one and nothing around to see or interfere with them indulging in each other's passion. Just as her arms found their way around his neck and before her lips managed to find his, he grabbed her and leapt for the shadows with the only distinct sound being his cape flapping. Their lips met in a flurry of kisses, their arms traveling up and down each other's body. Though silent, their passions raged unrelenting, their bodies indulging in the lack of distance between them. They didn't like being apart from one another. No mission could be over quick enough if it wasn't a joint venture.

Their passions quelled for now, their lungs were finally allowed to grasp for air freely.

"I've missed you, Princess. Quite a bit, in fact" he breathed out through a most satisfied smile.

"The feeling is mutual, Dark Knight" she confessed in a manner that hid just how neurotic she was the last few days during the mission without him. After all, if he knew just how much his absence affected her, she'd never hear the end of it. Well, he probably already knew, but no way would she give him the pleasure of seeing her admit it. "So what did I miss?"

"I've been forced to promise not to tell you what Alfred is preparing for your arrival back home. Gotham has been slightly more restless since you left, but nothing dramatic. Joker still hasn't popped his green hair out of whichever hole he dug himself into after escaping Arkham. Don't know how long that's going to stay that way. I might have some late nights soon. So far this one's been quiet. Too quiet" he said those last words in an ominous tone, as if the words themselves weren't ominous enough.

"You're expecting trouble?" she asks, her concern slight, but noticeable.

"It's an unwritten rule of Gotham. A quiet night generally means that something big is being planned or prepared. Quiet nights generally don't end too well around here" he spoke in a tone that didn't convey much relief to Diana's worries.

"Do you want some help?" she asked, even though she was sure she knew the answer.

"No need, Princess. Besides, you're probably tired. Go get some rest. I promise I'll comeback in one piece" he tried to reassure her.

It took her quite a while to agree to fly off to their home, partly because of the concern his words had sawn in her and partly because she didn't want to leave his embrace just yet. Eventually though she lifted from the rooftop and made her way towards their home, leaving him to continue his patrol.

On her way however, she was stopped by the sound of an explosion somewhere down below. She was sure Bruce had heard it too, but he had made his way in the other direction, so it would be some time before he came to the scene. She flew down to a rooftop from which she could observe the situation best. She couldn't see any injured people, merely a blown up bottom floor of a fairly artistically designed building.

Suddenly her scream cuts through the skies, as she finds herself on her knees, entangled in a net that courses an electric current through her entire body. She tried to fight it, but her muscles were not responding. While not strong enough to kill her, or even incapacitate her, the shock net was still strong enough to override her own body's neural impulses.

She hears some steps in the shadows. These steps aren't those of someone trying to hide his presence. From the shadows emerge a purple suit, white skin, green hair, demonic eyes and a wide menacing grin filled with yellow teeth. The Joker has finally crawled out of his hole and made an appearance, in his usual overly theatrical manner.

"Whoopsie! Wrong do-gooder. That was intended for Bats. But since we don't have a reserve net, I guess we'll just have to settle for you" his voice alternating between comic and menacing. "Have to admit though, you are tough, lady. That charge would have knocked Batman right into next Thursday. I guess we'll have to try harder with you. Crank up the juice, Harl!"

He shudders as he hears his wife's scream for the second time.

"Diana!" he yells with all the air he has in his lungs. Moving as swiftly as he can to where the screams originated from, he doesn't know what to expect. His mind couldn't even start processing the information. All he could think about was how to get there faster.

When he arrived to the rooftop, he could see the fire brigade tackling the fires in the building down bellow, but there was no sign of her anywhere. No sign of anything anywhere near here. That's not right. He knows that dreadful sound came from here. Even if he wasn't sure, this is the best vantage point to observe the flames, so obviously if she had landed to see what's going on, this would be the place. He looks around, Bruce Wayne urging him to a frantic scan of the environment, but Batman forcing him to adjust to his surroundings and calmly assert the situation.

That's when he notices it. Diana's tiara. Lying on the ground.

He rushes over to pick it up and falls down on his knees, stunned at what he sees along with the tiara on the ground. A Joker card.

"Rargh!" he roars out as he slams his fist into the card, denting the brick beneath it.


	2. Desperate Search

He wanted to go back to the cave. Maybe get some comfort and solace in familiar shadows. But that wasn't going to get her back and Gotham still wouldn't rest for at least 2 more hours.

Gotham. This city took his parents from him. It won't take her away as well. He'll use Gotham to find her. He knows how this city works. He knows every lowlife connected to the Joker. They will tell him everything he needs to know.

Time is scarce however. He'll need help.

"Nightwing, I need you in Gotham. Now" he calls through his communicator.

"I don't normally take calls during business hours, Batman. Nor do I take orders from you anymore. What is it?" the young hero answered, not exactly happy to hear from his former father figure.

"It's Diana."

"So you pissed of your wife. Again. Exactly how does that involve me in anything? I'm not your marriage councilor, Bruce, and I sure as hell…"

"She's been captured. By the Joker" Bruce uttered those words, each more painful than the one before.

"What? How?" Nightwing was struck amazed.

"I don't know, but I don't plan on giving that mad man any more time than he already has taken. That's why I need your help. So I can find her faster and hopefully avoid anything and everything that lunatic has in mind" Bruce's voice was odd to the young man, even though it changed very little form his normal tone. He could recognize something he never heard in it before. A pleading, almost desperate tone in his words. But something else as well. There was something else there to. Every word was imbued with something… something hard to describe. Something dark.

"Alright. What about Batgirl, I mean, Oracle and Robin?" Nightwing replied, his voice revealing his concern for both Diana and Bruce.

"I've called them already. They should be here in about 2-3 hours. How soon can you be here?"

"Probably in about an hour or so. Are you going to ask the League for help?"

"I'll inform them of the situation when we get back to the Cave. Otherwise they'd just slow us down. They don't know how Gotham works."

"Or how you work… Alright. Should I meet you at the Cave or somewhere else?"

"Call me when you get to Gotham. Then we'll see. Batman out." As soon as he hung up he started moving through the rooftops. He landed in the shadows in front of the back door of a bar where some of the scum he rounded up every now and then hung out and this one in particular housed one of Jokers former henchmen regularly. Not 2 minutes after he landed, the door opened and the man he was waiting for exited not expecting anything.

He made two steps towards the shadows and before he could turn to move along with his business a black hand grabbed him. Suddenly he found himself off the ground and slammed into the wall, the fist holding him up and against the wall digging into his chest.

"Where is he?" Batman's interrogation appeared more intimidating than usual.

"What are you talking about?" the man asks, shaking with fear, but before he could even properly finish his sentence he let out a painful scream as Batman broke several of his lower ribs using a hammerfist technique.

"Where's the Joker? Tell me now, or I'll…" his voice terrifying the poor man even more than before.

"But I don't know where he is! I haven't heard from him in over a year!"

Batman threw the terrified man into the opposing wall. The man's fears grew more and more as he watched the Batman approach him covered in shadows with a look that burned itself into his nightmares. He felt a gloved hand squeezing his throat, the thumb compressing his trachea from the side and riddling him with horrible pain.

"You have 24 hours as of now to find out everything you can about the Joker. Don't even think about running or hiding from me. And the information better be worth it! Otherwise…" he slammed the man into the ground and disappeared into the night.

* * *

An hour and several interrogations later he met his old protégé at the top of a clock tower. He informed him of what had happened, of the tiara and the Joker card he found and of what little he had learned so far.

"This is going to be tough, but by no means impossible. How are you holding up, Bruce?" Nightwing asks, his concern unhidden.

"I don't know, Dick. I don't think about it. All I can think about now is that I need to find her and get her away from that insane lunatic" Bruce's voice seemed darker than on the communicator and that frightened him somewhat.

"Bruce… What about when you find her? And him… Bruce, I'm afraid you might cross the line this time…"

"It's a risk we're going to have to take. The important thing now is finding Diana. Everything else is irrelevant." That answer obviously didn't calm the young hero much.

"Alright. What now? Dawn is about an hour away. Are we heading to the Cave?"

"Yes. There's not much we can do out here now, but at least we can sift through the files in the computer and try and find something out. As soon as Barbara and Tim arrive, we'll organize and start working."

Receiving a nod from his adoptive son, they both made their way towards the Cave.

* * *

"Found anything so far?" Bruce asks. They've been searching through files for over an hour now.

"Nothing. Not even a stray cat has passed through any of his old hideouts according to the police reports and most of his former crew is still in prison. The ones that aren't are less than unemployed lately. It seems Joker's last 'job' got them a lot of publicity with the police. So no one wants to work with them. You?"

"Nothing. None of the tech labs reported anything missing or stolen. Whatever tech he used, he must have gotten it from out of town or from someone who didn't want to report it stolen" Bruce clenched his fist.

Seeing that, Nightwing tried to comfort him and placed his hand on the Caped Crusader's shoulder. "Bruce, we'll find her. It's only been 2 hours that she's been gone."

"That's 2 hours to many" he replied, the unfamiliar darkness in his voice ever present.

"Have you informed the League?"

"I have. They say they can't pinpoint Diana's communicator. As if I hadn't tried that already" he paused a little after those words. "I told them I'd keep them informed and that they should be ready to pick her up at any time."

"Excuse me, Masters Bruce and Dick" Alfred's British accent resounded through the cave. "Miss Barbara and Master Tim have arrived" he gestured towards the two.

"Hey Bruce. Hey Dick" Tim Drake greeted them in the most uncharacteristically unenthusiastic voice.

"Are you OK, Bruce?" asked Barbara Gordon, surprised at Bruce's appearance. His face was grim and dark, but his eyes were a mixture of that darkness and despair, the former growing more and more with every passing moment.

"Not really."

His answer surprised all present. Not the words, but the dark and desperate voice. A voice they had never heard cross his lips until now.

"Alright, now that we're all here we should get organized. Tim, Barbara, so far the Joker hasn't been spotted entering any of his old hideouts but I'd still like you to go and check them out personally. I'm going to find some of Joker's former associates and ask them a few questions. Dick, do you want to rest up?" Bruce started calculating their approach to the problems at hand.

"Forget it. I know you're not going to rest one bit and I don't feel like sleeping either."

"Alright. Then you can help me. We'll divide them up. I'll take the north part of Gotham and you take the south. Here's the list of people you need to visit and their most likely locations. I've uploaded them to your suit's computer. The day has already begun and it's going to be harder to stay hidden in broad daylight. Do you want to wait for nightfall?" he asked and turned around to face them all. They all looked at him with their arms crossed in front of their chests and a look that told him the answer he expected. They weren't going to waste any time, no more than he intended to. He nodded and added: "Good. Then we meet back here at 1700 hours to eat something and go through what we've gathered by then. Dick, the bikes are over there. You two take the Batmobile. Barbara, you drive. I'll take the Batwing" and the young heroes when to achieve their objectives.

"Alfred, cancel all of my appointments for the rest of the week and prepare something fulfilling for dinner and a lot of coffee."

"Yes, sir. Do be careful. You can hardly help Miss Diana if you're injured."

"Will do, Alfred" and with those words he entered the Batwing and flew off.

* * *

Alfred's meal was delicious and it recharged them a little as well. They revised most of their information, with little results, unfortunately. They were tired by now, but it's not like that was something new to any of them.

What was new was Bruce's expression. For the most part Bruce's face was set in his trained expressionless manner, telling the rest of the people present that he was running through the information they had accumulated, calculating the connections between the bits and pieces of the picture, planning what to do next.

Every now and then, however, for a fleeting moment his eyes would show something unexpected and uncharacteristic for the Dark Knight, at least to those assembled. Emotions. Despair and fright. Worry for his wife. Not knowing where and how she was didn't leave a good impact on him. That would soon disappear into intense anger, barely restrained rage. It wasn't that hard to imagine what thoughts brought them up. What they couldn't understand was why people associated fury with the color red. Every time they noticed his anger showing in his eyes, they couldn't help worrying at the darkness they saw in them. They were almost grateful that those outbursts of emotion were as short as they were as Bruce turned back to analyzing and planning, snapping himself out of his thoughts.

They hadn't learned much so far. Batgirl and Robin still had a few of Joker's former hideouts to check out. They did find a hidden room in one of them that appeared as if it had been visited in the last 3 weeks and something had been taken from there. After they check out the last few hideouts they hadn't, they'll focus on patrol. Nightwing had managed to obtain a little bit of information about certain lesser criminals who had practically disappeared after accepting some job 10 or so days ago. He'll follow up on some of those leads when they head out. Batman learned of some other crooks that also took a very discreet job and 'enlisted' a few extra information gatherers. Tonight he'll visit them all and see what they managed to dig up. He wouldn't mind having to make an example of one of them to untie their tongues. Though that seemed unlikely seeing how the ones he talked to today had already heard how he persuaded the ones last night to talk and decided to cooperate quicker than usual.

Bruce gave them their assignment and told them to try and sleep the 2 hours they had before they started patrol. They thought about rejecting the offer, but after realizing that there is little they could do other than prepare for patrol at this point, they did rest. He, however, went to the Cave and continued scanning his file, the police files, monitoring police radio traffic. He couldn't, and even if he could, he wouldn't rest until he found her and brought her back home.

* * *

The last 3 had little relevant information for him. This guy better have some useful things to tell him.

"What did you find out?"

His dark voice frightened the criminal. As he turned around, Batman's massive shadowy figure frightened him all the more. He takes a few steps back, while Batman takes a few towards him. Finally he blurts out a few words.

"I… Me and… I didn't find out much…" his voice riddled with fear.

"That's not what I want to hear" Batman's stoic voice hides his anger. He doesn't need to show his rage to be threatening to this small-time scum. He's probably even more threatening to him that way. "So what do you know?"

"We've found some guys who went missing after accepting some job. Actually… We found their corpses sporting that idiotic grin… You know… From Joker's toxin" his voice shaking, while he stares in fear at Batman towering above him.

"Is that all?"

"All I know about the Joker. Apart from that, I've heard some rumors about stolen tech from some secret mob factories or something. Others might know more than I do…"

"Alright. Keep digging. I might just visit you once more" Batman said as he turned around to go his way.

"When?"

"Whenever I need to" he said as he fired his grapple and disappeared from the man's sight.

"Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, I haven't found out much yet, but I've heard something about tech stolen from some mob covert weapon factories or development facilities. What have you found out?"

"We've found nothing in all but one of Jokers former hideouts. He's cleared all of his 'toys' out of his secret rooms except in the hideout we're in right now. We're going to put tracers on most of the things here and then we're done" Batgirl reports back.

"Should we go back to the Cave, continue patrol or do you want us to do something else?" Robin asks.

"See if you can get into Rupert Thorn's office and look for anything that might get us some information on the secret labs and where they are, who built them and anything about these robberies."

"Ok. We'll see what we can do" Batgirl replies.

"I've not found out much about the Joker yet. I also heard of those stolen techs from a certain secret tech lab too. I'm going to go check it out and see what comes out of it" Nightwing informs him.

"Good. I'll continue my patrol and information gathering as well. Meet up in the Cave at 0400."

* * *

The flight back to the Cave gave him time to think. He didn't appreciate it much. All he could think about is that this is the second night that Diana was gone. She's been in the Jokers hands for over 24 hours now. It's getting to him. It keeps getting harder and harder to control himself.

He arrives at the Cave to see them all waiting by the computer and checking some files.

"Anything new?" Batman asked.

"Well, we've managed to dig up some info in Thorne's place" answered Tim Drake.

"We're trying to make sense of it. It's encrypted and there's a lot of it. It'll take me a few hours to get it done" Barbara explains.

"Hard copies?"

"We've found some files, but they don't detail much. It contains the names, locations and costs of his secret projects and facilities. It's going to take some time to sort it out, but unless we plan to go visit each of those locations, there's almost no way to know what is what."

"Nightwing, did you find out something?"

"I visited the lab I told you about. Aside from some broken security cameras, not much indicated that there was a break in. I've 'borrowed' their files. We should be able to find what they were building, what was stolen, who built it and so forth. From that we might make a connection" Nightwing elaborated.

"None of this leads us to Diana. But if the Joker is keeping her, he has to be using advanced technology. So those laboratories are our best lead so far" Batman started analyzing. "You say that there were few signs of forced entry and damage?"

"Yeah" Nightwing answered. "I know what you're hinting at. It's as if someone knew the layout and how to bypass security, or at least most of it. So if we find that someone, we'll probably find the thieves. Or at least their next target and be ready for them."

"How probable is it that it's the Joker who's stealing that tech? We shouldn't be going on a wild goose chase if we want to find…" Tim trailed of when he noticed the Batman's expression.

"Very probable. The Joker is the only one on the loose crazy enough to try and steal things of that quality from the mobs" Barbara intervened.

"Here's the plan. Tim and Dick, you go and get some rest. Barbara, you decrypt the data and then go rest up yourself. I'm going to start reading these files. Can you guys tell Alfred to prepare some coffee for me?"

They wanted to tell him that he should rest as well, but they decided not to. He was a hard man to convince at the best of times. Now it'd be downright impossible. So they all decided to go with the plan.

* * *

"Got it. The data has been decrypted. You want me to go through it, Bruce?" Barbara asked.

"No. I'll go through it. I've found some possible leads in the hard copies you obtained and Nightwing's files. I'll check it out. You go rest. I'm going to need you all rested if any of this bears fruit" Bruce answered, but he seemed somewhat absent.

After several hours of searching through mountains of data, Bruce finally found something that stood out.

One of the labs had some experimental new super strong containment units stolen. Most of the labs in these files reported minimal damage sustained during the break in and they were all designed by the same man. A certain Terence Weave.

"Find anything yet?" Nightwing's voice broke the silence of the Cave.

"Possibly. All of these places are connected through one man. The man who designed them, Terence Weave. The thieves also stole this from the lab you searched" Bruce answered.

"Super strong containment unit? This looks like technology designed to counter metas. Why are Gotham based criminals developing such a thing?"

"It bares resemblance to a lot of Luthor's technology. He probably shipped some of his development to Gotham so he couldn't be implicated if anything went wrong. I might have to remind him to keep his business out of my city." Bruce's voice sent chills down Dick's spine. It was as dark and cold as the shadows in the Cave.

"What about the other labs? What did they get stolen from them?"

"Haven't found those files yet. The data is very incriminating. When we're done with it, we're sending it directly to Gotham PD."

"Okay. I'm going to check out the video feeds. I doubt the regular cameras saw anything, but maybe the ceiling mounted hidden ones got something."

"Good. Hmm" Bruce noticed something in one of the files.

"What did you find?"

"This, from the earliest thievery. They stole a gun that shoots an electric net. It says here that the prototype can create a high voltage DC current. Up to about 50000 volts. This would be one of the few things that could take Diana down if they managed to surprise her. Or me."

"Or you?"

"Of course. This has nothing to do with Diana. That trap was meant for me!" Bruce slammed his fist on the table.

"Bruce, don't go crazy now. It's not your fault" Dick tried to reassure him.

"Didn't you hear a word I just said? They captured her in a trap meant for me!"

"Do you think it would have made a difference? It might have been even worse! You know she would have just charged in and gotten herself in more trouble!"

Bruce didn't say anything after that. He saw something on the camera feed Dick was looking at moments ago. A figure moved quickly and teared off the non-hidden camera that was in the shot. They backed it up and frizzed the frame. Dick noticed Bruce clenching his fist and his furious stare at the figure of Harley Quinn on the monitor.

"Now we got confirmation. But we still need to find a connection to follow them."

"We have a connection. Terence Weave." Bruce's voice sounded much darker all of a sudden. "I'm going to have a chat with him today."

* * *

"Report" Batman requested into his communicator.

"So far, nothing much. Apparently the Joker's hidden his tracks well. The only thing that's surfaced so far is another corpse with a Joker grin. I'll keep 'asking' around" Nightwing responded.

"Same here. After the 'pep talks' you guys gave them, people really do want to talk to me, but they don't have anything useful to tell me" Robin reported in.

"So far the files haven't told me anything new. Well, at least not something we can use, but Gotham PD is going to love all of this" Batgirl answered.

"Alright, keep it up. It 1752. Mr. Weave should be entering his office very soon. I'll contact you when I find out something."

The man enters his office. His behavior shows that he is disturbed and anxious. He threw the files he was carrying down on the desk as he sat down, throwing himself back in his seat, holding his head.

"Tough day at the office?" Batman asked from the shadows.

"What?" The man jumped up frightened. "Who's there? Are you with the Joker! I told you everything I know!"

"Then you're going to tell me the exact same thing." Batman step into the man's sight.

The man was stunned by the image of the Dark Knight approaching him. "Batman! Where… How… I…" the man started muttering. He finally stopped when Batman stood in front of him, towering above him. "What do you want from me?"

"I want to know everything you told Joker."

"I… I can't… I can't tell you. He'll kill me!"

Batman grabs him with one hand, pulls him up out of his chair and slams him on the desk. The man's face paled out of fear.

"From the Joker, that isn't a threat, it's a promise. It's just a matter of time. If you want to live, you'll tell me where to find him. NOW!"

It took him a few moments to sort out what just happened in his head. Finally he responded. "I don't know where he is! He contacted me. He told me to get him a way into the secret development facilities!"

"All of them?"

"No. He contacted me several times. Each time for a specific one."

"Has he contacted you recently?"

"Yes. Yes! He called me yesterday. He told me to provide him with blueprints and a route for tonight. I can give you the files."

"Do it!" Batman commanded as he shoved him off of the desk. The man stood up, took a spare USB drive he had and put the files needed on it.

"There. This has everything about the lab. The location, the projects, the funding, blueprints and so on."

"Good. I recommend you get yourself out of mob business, Mr. Weave. Otherwise, my next visit won't be as nice as this was" Batman told the man before he exited the room through a window.

* * *

"Batman, come in."

"I'm working, J'onn. It's past 2 in the morning so make it quick."

"Understood. Just letting you know that we are engaged in a unexpected environmental disaster. Our teleporters are working overtime. They'll soon be out of order for the next 5 hours."

"Alright, J'onn. Batman out" Batman replied, unsatisfied by that development. Now it would take him more time to get to Diana and getting her to the watchtower medical facilities. That is, if he finds her.

"Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, status report."

"I'm still searching through the files. I can only tell you that the guards are scheduled to relieve each other at 0330. If Joker wants to do things quiet… Never expected to hear those words come out of my mouth… Anyway, that's the best loophole anyone who wants to enter quietly can exploit. It's a possibility" Barbara replied through the comm.

"Agreed. Robin?"

"Nothing big. So far just a few muggings, 'lovers quarrels'. So far, not a really exciting night."

"Nightwing."

"Same as with Robin. Very little excitement. Anyway, don't worry about that. The 3 of us can handle if anything big comes up. You just focus on finding Diana. Nightwing out."

So be it. He will focus on that. Only that matters at this point.

...

About an hour later he notices some commotion. 3 thugs with clown masks are breaking in through a door and Harley is watching them.

As the 3 entered the building, he glides down in front of Harley, just before she could enter as well. He slammed the door shut and put a gadget on it that fired 4 arms out that dug into the walls and prevented the door from being opened. Harley tried to escape by doing running of and jumping on to the fire-escape. Before she could make of however, Batman fired his grapple at her and pulled her down into a heap of trash cans.

Pushing one of the trashcans off of her, she yelled out: "Hey! What's the big idea?" but is quickly silenced when Batman squeezes her neck, pull her up and slams her into the wall.

"I'm in no mood for jokes or games Harley. Tell me where she is" Batman's voice frightened her. It was dark and chilling. It showed no mercy, just like his expression. She was almost grateful that the shadows covered half of his face.

"Come on, Bats. Do you honestly think I'd…" she tried to be defiant, even though she was near scared out of her mind. She was stopped when Batman dug his fist under her ribcage.

After she managed to regain what little breath she could, she froze as his eyes bore into her.

"I'm going to ask you politely just one more time. Where is she?"

"Uh… The warehouse district… Warehouse 17…" she wheezed out with what little breath she could muster.

After tying Harley up and leaving her hanging of a lamppost, he pointed the Batwing towards the warehouses.

"Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl! I've found Diana! She's in the warehouses district, warehouse 17! I'll call if I need help! Barbara, contact the League and tell them to be ready with the teleporters or send a Javelin down ASAP! Batman out!"

He programmed the Batwing to perform a Kulbit maneuver over the warehouse 17 and then land at one of its preprogrammed landing points. As the aircraft inverted, the canopy slid open and Bruce ejected downwards. As the Batwing made of, Batman opened the parachute on the seat and unbuckled his seat harness, free falling towards the warehouse.

When he was about a 50 meters from the warehouse roof, he spread his cape and glided down towards the glass window on the roof. Just before the impact he thrust his legs forward and smashed through the glass into the warehouse.


	3. Punishment

Just as the Joker is about to continue his fun using an exposed electric wire, Batman crashes through the roof. He looks at the clown's face, which was first stunned in surprise and then fear after seeing the Batman's gaze.

"YOU!" Batman yells in a tone full of anger and hate at the lunatic.

"So glad you could drop by, Bats. I'm about to continue my fun. You can watch but only if you behave yourself" Joker spoke in his comical voice. "Subdue him, boys, but don't be too rough."

"I want him to watch what's next on the menu..." he said in his menacing voice, followed by an even more menacing laugh.

As 6 brutes started running towards Batman, he drew 6 taser batarangs and threw them each at one of the brutes. The shock of the batarangs lasted for 10 seconds. This time he calibrated them to hurt, a lot, before incapacitating.

Menacingly walking towards the lunatic who had captured his wife, he clenched his fist hidden behind his cape. The Joker in a misguided attempt to stop him grabbed Wonder Woman's black hair and pulled her head up displaying his readiness to shove the wire into her throat, but before he could even speak a word of the threat he intended, Batman fired his grapple at the mad mans arm. The 3 pronged 'hand' of the grapple squeezed Jokers lower arm with such force that he dropped the wire, his bones nearly snapping under the gadgets grip.

Pulled with such force that he nearly flew in Batman's direction, his face met a very displeased Batman's elbow. Before he could regain his footing, he felt Batman's gloved hand around his neck. The fingers pressing on his spine, the thumb pushing upwards into the muscles under his jaw. The force of the grip was unimaginable. A little more effort would have snapped his white neck like a twig.

Glaring his clenched teeth, anger seeping out of his eyes, Batman drops the no longer grinning madman. Before The Jokers feet even touched the ground, Batman's knee hits the purple dressed maniac's groin furiously, followed by an immense punch just below the ribs. As the Joker leaned over in response to the punishment he received, he felt his hair being grabbed and before he could even make that out completely, Batman's knee was driven right into his nose, forcing the Clown Prince of Crime into a straightened up position, and it probably would have made him lean over backwards had Batman not continued his assault.

Continuing the motion of his leg from the knee strike upwards, Batman brought down a powerful axe kick on the lunatic, breaking his right collar bone. Several punches and elbows into the head, that made Jokers face turn in the opposite directions of each respective strike, were followed by a round kick that certainly cracked at least 3 ribs. Retracting his leg, he spun his body so that he could execute a side kick with the same leg right into his chest that likely broke 2 more ribs on the opposite side of the Jokers rib cage.

Before he could even fly of he felt his right arm being grabbed and pulled back. Just as it straightened out, Batman brought down his other arm on it, smashing and twisting the elbow in the opposite direction. Not waiting a single moment after that, he threw the Joker on the ground, still controlling his arm, resting his knee on the mad man's scapula, using it as a leverage point to rip the broken purple suited arm's shoulder out of its socket. Finally, the Dark Knight let go of his opponent and stood up, his figure a black shadow.

"Wow... You seem a little angry, Bats... Was it something I did? Hehe..." the Joker tried to act funny, writhing in pain, but enjoying the fact that he finally managed to provoke an emotional reaction from the Bat.

His anger reignited, Batman smashed his palm into the Jokers head, pressing it into the concrete. His fingers compressing the mad man's scalp and nearly denting it, he pulled the Jokers head of the ground so high that he also brought his chest up as well. Preparing to smash it into the very same place it had lied just a few seconds ago. Just as he started the head's path towards the concrete he was stopped.

"No! Stop!" he heard her voice. That angelic, melodious sound dissolved the blood haze in his eyes. After lowering the Jokers head to the ground, he turned to look at Diana, just barely conscious.

"Well what do you know? Looks like she likes me... Heheh…" Jokers comical voice stated, interrupted by a cough, angering the Caped Crusader just enough to bring his head up slightly and slam it into the concrete, knocking the Joker out, at last.

Rising up, he instantly made his way towards Diana, releasing her from her elaborate shackles. She simply slumped into his arms. Just before she fell unconscious, she placed her hand on his cheek and whispered through a week smile: „Bruce."

He aims his grapple at the roof, puts her in a position more comfortable and safe for him to hold her and goes up to the hole in the roof through which he had entered. Upon climbing up on the roof, he looks at Diana, unconscious in his arms. As he raises his eyes from her, he notices the concerned gazes of Superman, Shayera and the Flash. They have noticed Diana is unconscious and, as that is no small feat to achieve, their concern was well founded. Superman also noticed the blood on Bruce's gloves, but he didn't say a thing about it.

"What happened?" asked the Flash, in obvious disbelief at what he is seeing.

"Where's the Joker?" asked Superman, no less concerned, but slightly more concentrated than Wally.

"Down there. You can go take a look, but I'm taking Diana to the infirmary with Flash" Bruce exclaimed in a tone of voice none of them could quite make out what it was conveying.

"Alright. We'll stay here and do clean up. See you on the Watchtower."

"Flash, as soon as we land, I want you to take Diana to the infirmary as fast as you can" Bruce spoke as they made their way to the Javelin.


	4. The Wake

He won't take his eyes of her. He won't move away from her. Her injuries are not serious thanks to her being a metahuman and her recovery will be swift compared to that of a normal human, but she will still need to sleep a whole day. He will be there with here. He will wake over her. Regardless of the three sleepless days it took him to get to this point, he won't be sleeping. Alfred, Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin have been informed about all that's happened. Before he could even say anything, they told him they'd take care of Gotham for the time being and Alfred has canceled all of Bruce Wayne's appointments until further notice.

The door to her room has been sealed off and the screen has been blackened with Original Seven Only clearance, so he could take his cowl, cape and gloves of. He threw the gloves into the sink, but hasn't washed the blood of them yet. It reminded him. This time he almost went too far. If he even sees a single green hair during patrol in the next year, he'll put that lunatic in Arkham and make sure he can't escape for a while. Broken legs tend to make escapes a very difficult undertaking.

"You're safe now…" he whispered before kissing her forehead. 'What did that maniac do to you? Or more importantly, what did _that_ do to you?' he couldn't help thinking. She is a warrior, she is Wonder Woman, but no god, demigod or demon is as sick as the Joker. This day should give him the answer to that. Hopefully he wouldn't have to calm her nightmares as she does his. That is one thing he doesn't want to share with her.

The door opens and uncharacteristically the Flash enters slowly into the room. Keeping his eye on the sleeping Amazon and her healing bruises and burns, he finally directs a question at the Dark Knight, sitting as close as possible to her bed, his elbows placed on his knees, his chin resting on his knuckles.

"How's she doing, Bats?"

"How do you think she's doing?" Bruce's voice was filled with something hardly describable. Only one word traveled through Wally's mind trying to describe what that was: Dark.

"Are you OK, Batman?"

"Do I look OK to you, Wally?"

"I guess not. When was the last time you slept?"

Bruce's face didn't show that he hadn't slept the last 3 days. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd gone several days without sleep. But his eyes were red, eyelids in a slight shade of black and purple.

"The morning all of this started" he replied, his voice emotionless and dark.

"Oh man… You really should get some rest. You're not doing either of you any favors this way."

"No" his voice didn't change one bit, but it still conveyed slight anger and unfaltering intent.

"Alright. Do you want something from the commissary? A sandwich and coffee, maybe?"

Bruce just nodded silently.

"Ok. Sups and Shayera should be back in about 10 minutes so they'll bring them to you. See ya, Bats." Wally exited the room as slowly as he had entered the room.

Bruce pondered on what was to come. Kent was probably going to give him a few of his motivational feel-good routines and probably going to nag about what he did to the Joker. Probably even suggest he talk to J'onn about it or something. Shayera on the other hand is probably going to be quiet and offer her support that way. Green Lantern was on a mission out in space somewhere. He probably wasn't even informed of what had happened. J'onn had started his monitor duty 2 hours ago and he'd just gotten rid of Wally. Once Superman and Hawkgirl are done with their visit he'll probably be alone for the next 5-6 hours. Alone with her.

About 10 minutes later the doors opened. Superman and Shayera entered the room.

"We've brought you what you asked for" noted the Man of Steel and placed the sandwiches and coffee on the counter next to Bruce, who didn't move a muscle and just kept watching his wife sleeping peacefully.

"How's she doing?" he continued with a concerned voice.

"How does it look like she's doing?" The darkness in his voice stunned them both.

"And you?" asked Shayera, snapping out of the shock at Batman's voice first.

Bruce didn't answer that time.

"Bruce, we need to talk" said Superman after a long period of silence.

Bruce turned towards them and straitened his upper body, folding his arms in front of his chest. His eyes showed them his lack of sleep and the darkness they had noticed in his voice not too long ago.

"About?"

"Bruce, I've seen the blood on your gloves. We've seen what you did to the Joker. We think you need to talk to someone about this."

"No" he replied, his voice slightly darker than before.

"Bruce, this isn't something you can just…"

"I said NO!" That surprised them. Bruce didn't often raise his voice. Even when interrogating someone.

"Ok. We can talk about it some other time. Do you want one of us to stay here and monitor Diana while you sleep?" Superman suggested.

"No."

"You're not going to sleep until she wakes up, are you?" asked Shayera, more perceptive than the Man of Steel when it comes to situations like this.

"No."

"Bruce, that's insane. Look at yourself. You need to sleep…"

"Forget it, Kent!"

"Alright. J'onn's shift ends in about 6 hours. He'll bring you a few more sandwiches and coffee." Superman said before exiting the room.

Bruce turned back towards his wife. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up.

"She'll pull through it" Shayera said. He just turned his head back towards Diana and Shayera exited the room.

* * *

He kept his vigil until she awoke. J'onn had visited when they said he would but didn't try much to talk with the Dark Knight. He finally washed the blood of his gloves and gauntlets. The rest of the time his thoughts were gone. He didn't think about anything except for her, watching her, waiting for her to wake up, being thankful that she didn't appear to have any nightmares. The night passed by. Morning followed and the day as well. Finally Diana stirred as the next night was almost over.

"Bruce?" she said, after a yawn, seeing his face. It took her a few moments to gather where she was and what she was doing.

"Feeling any better, Princess?" he asked, the darkness in his voice still evident, but slowly fading and being replaced with joy because of Diana's well being.

"I'm fine, but what about you? Bruce, you look awful" she answered his question and added her own with unhidden concern.

"Don't worry. I just haven't slept in a while."

"How long is 'a while'?"

"Since you've been captured."

"Bruce… How long was I asleep?"

"27 hours and 31 minutes"

She didn't reply, only tried to wrap her head around all that information.

"Think you're well enough for us to go back home, Diana?"

"I am" Diana nodded, her eyes again that blue that he loved to look at so much.

"Alright. Wait for me to put on my gloves, cape and cowl and we'll be off to the Mansion."

As he put on the rest of his gear, she stood up which prompted a reaction from the Caped Crusader.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked her, taking her up in his arms.

"Bruce, I can walk" exclaimed a surprised Wonder Woman.

"I don't care" he told her before activating his communicator and asking: "J'onn, can you teleport us to the cave?"

"_Yes. In a moment"_ the Martians voice replied and not long after they were in the cave after the familiar light show.

Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin had just arrived back from patrol and Alfred was in the Cave with them. All were relieved to see Diana back, though they were surprised to see her in Bruce's hands. Their fears were quickly put to rest. As Bruce was about to take Diana to their bed, they told him to take the next 2 days off and that they'll take over patrol.

He carried her to their bed and put her in it gently. He took of the top part of his outfit, went into the bathroom and brought back a wet towel in case she wanted to wash her face. After that he started helping her out of her outfit and into her nightgown.

"Bruce, you know I can do all of this by myself?"

"I know. Still doesn't mean you're going to."

She smiled and let him proceed with what he had in mind. After he was finished, he took of the rest of his outfit and lied under the covers with her. They lied there, in each other's embrace.

"So what now? We try to fall asleep?" she asks.

"Think you'll be able to?"

"As I recall, I've slept for 27 hours and 31 minutes. It might take me a while" she answered him with a smile, but it still didn't fade the concern of his face. "Bruce, everything is fine. I'm here, you're here, we are both safe and well. You can put your mind to rest, at least for a while."

His look turned downwards as he ran through some thoughts. When he turned his look back to her it still showed concern, but it was accompanied with a smile.

So they lay there, enjoying each other's embrace, giving one another quick kisses now and then until eventually they fell asleep a few hours later.

She woke up an hour afterwards though, not feeling his arms around her. Looking around the room she found him seated in the armchair in the shadows.


	5. Dispeling the Darkness

He can't ignore it. Little has changed since the whole thing ended. The little bit of the darkness that Diana dispelled, had gripped him again. The shadows that are covering him are nothing compared to it. It feels like a cold, dark hand is gripping his heart, more and more. It feels like there's very little of his heart left that isn't covered in the dark grip.

It isn't unfamiliar. He's felt it before. It's plagued him before. After his parents death, but he managed to suppress it, thanks to his training and help from Alfred and his various masters. However, the more and more time he was Batman, the harder and harder it was too keep the darkness out. It kept getting to him more and more, until finally, it turned him near completely introvert and had him drive most of the people connected to him away.

The longer he stared into the abyss, the more it stared back at and into him, until eventually, it reflected itself in him.

Then she came and eventually she dragged him out of the darkness. She was just stubborn and strong enough to not let him push her away.

This time however, it doesn't feel like the abyss is merely looking back into him. This time, the abyss is dragging him in…

* * *

She wakes up, not feeling his arms around her. Looking around the room she finds him seated in the armchair in the shadows. She can distinguish him, even though he's covered in shadows. The moonlight is outlining him. But why is he sitting there in the shadows? His posture would indicate that he's thinking. Thinking about something that disturbs him.

„Bruce, are you alright?" Diana asks concerned.

„I am." Bruce answers unconvincingly.

Diana looks at him worryingly for a while and then stands up from the bed, moves towards him and sits down in his lap and, putting her palms on his cheeks, she turns his face towards her. What she sees disturbs her.

His arms just slumped down on her thighs. His face is mostly covered in shadows, one side slightly illuminated in the moonlight. His eyes caught some reflected light and are visible even in the shadows, and in those eyes Diana sees a mixture of anger, fear, hate, desperation, determination and something darker than the shadows enveloping him. The light that used to shine through in varying intensity is now utterly expunged, as if it was never there. It is hidden behind angry brows and a dark stare.

"Bruce, what's going on? Tell me" Diana asks, near pleading out of concern.

Bruce looks away for a moment, but soon returns his gaze upon her as he answers: "I can't stop thinking about all that's happened. What I've done, what I've failed to do. How I endangered you. How I still endanger you."

"Bruce, it's not your fault. You couldn't have predicted any of it."

"It is my fault. That trap was meant for me, Diana. Not you, me!"

"It's NOT your fault! What if they had captured you? Tortured you? Would that have made it any better? Do you honestly think that that wouldn't hurt me?"

"I'm poison, Diana! Everyone and everything connected to me in any way gets hurt!"

"Stop it!" Diana yells at him, her eyes watering up. "Don't ever say something like that again! Bruce, we've been together in a wonderful relationship for 5 years now. We've been happily married for 3 and a half. Please don't tell me that you're willing to ruin all of that because of this one incident!"

"I don't want to! I love you, Diana. More than life itself! But…"

"No! Don't even go there! Those reasons do not even remotely apply to our situation. Not even the 3rd one. What happened was due to circumstance, not because the Joker planned it as a way to hurt Batman!"

"It could happen again. You know that…" Bruce's voice trembled slightly at the very idea.

"And if it does, I know you'll come and save me again. If it happens to you, I'll come and save you. So stop it!"

"I…" Bruce stops and groans, as he realizes that no more words will come out of his mouth. His forehead falls down into his palm and he slumps over, resting his head on his hand. She did it again. She pulled him out of the abyss. She wouldn't let him push her away. Her words, her love, her passion, her strength, her stubbornness, her comforting hand on his shoulder… All that gave him the strength to pull away from the darkness that gripped him so tightly. He isn't rid of it. It is still there. It still holds on to his heart, but its grip is weak. The only one who holds his heart completely is her.

As he turns back towards her, she can see the light in his eyes has banished the darkness. That brings a smile on her lips and one tear escapes her eye.

"Alright. I concede. I can't win anyway, can I?" Bruce finally speaks and Diana notices that his tone has changed as well. The light that shines in his eyes is noticeable in his voice as well.

"Not at this" Diana answers, with a small smile gracing her beautiful face.

"Fine. But I do know one thing in CAN win in…"

"Oh? And what might that be, pray tell?" Diana asks, raising an eyebrow at his sudden teasing tone, slightly surprised. Pleasantly surprised.

"Well… So, as you said, if the need arises, I save you and you save me, right?"

"Of course. If either of us is in trouble, we can always rely on the other to come and save us."

"True. But tell me something, Princess. Who's going to save you from me?" he smiles as he pulls her closer to himself, making his way for her neck.

"What do you... Oh..." she lets out a seductive sound as he kisses her neck.

However, not long after her face assumes an expression of terror before being thrown into fits of hysteria as Bruce's fingers tickle her ribs and his tongue her neck. "Nooo! Ahahaha... Bruce, you can't do this to meeee... Nooo... Ahahaha..."


End file.
